Wednesday, November 4, 2009

The one and only, Dr. Miranda Bailey


For my paper, I am going to examine Dr. Bailey from ABC's hit television show, Grey's Anatomy. I'd say this show's genre would be characterized as a drama, and Dr. Bailey greatly adds to the thrill and excitement of the show. I think Dr. Bailey is a great candidate for this character analysis paper because she is a very interesting character and has multiple personalities and attributes that define who she is. For example, although Dr. Bailey is known for being "the nazi" of the hospital and seems to butt into all the other character's business, she herself is pretty closed off and usually doesn't like to discuss her personal life with her colleagues. Only on rare occasions does she ever open up about her divorce or her child. Furthermore, I think the fact that Miranda Bailey is a black, female surgeon is representative of the subaltern culture, since we are used to seeing white, males play most of the doctor/surgeon roles on television these days. Additionally, we can also see her as playing the role of "the Other" because residents like Meredith and George look up to her and value her advice in the highest respectable manner, which is also a not so common role for a black woman to have on television. However, it is funny to see Dr. Bailey snap into the typical black stereotypical attitude of bossing other residents around and putting them in their place when they are out of line. She is a great character because the cast looks to her not only for advice in emergent and serious situations, but also for comedic relief during happier time. All in all, I think that Dr. Bailey is such a fun character and I would thoroughly enjoy writing a character analysis about her.

4 comments:

  1. Dr. Bailey is one of my favorite characters on the show. I think that the show wouldnt be as successful if it were for her. She's a crucial character and adds so much attitude and spunk to the show!

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  2. OMG!!!!
    PErfect, absolutely perfect.
    This is going to be one great paper!

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  3. I'm a big fan of Bailey although I stopped watching the show during the stupid Denny/Izzie plotline last year. I loved what Chandra Wilson said in her acceptance speech for a SAG award:

    "And last but not least, just to be able to take this thing home to my girls, in particular, and hold it in front of them and say, “Look, with this skin and this nose, and this height, and these arms,” you know, “I’m here!” Whoo!"

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  4. This is a great example!! I didn't think of Bailey at all (i'm doing mine on Christina) but she is such a substantial character and there is actually so much you can say about her in relation to this class! Good choice.

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